Former heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua will return to the ring against Jermaine Franklin on Saturday night in London.
ANTHONY JOSHUA (24-3, 22 KOS)
VS. JERMAINE FRANKLIN (21-1, 14 KOS)
- Date: Saturday, April 1
- Time: 2 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. PT (7 p.m. U.K. time) (main event later in show)
- Where: O2 Arena, London
- TV/Stream: DAZN
- Division: Heavyweight (no limit)
- At stake: No major titles
- Pound-for-pound ranking: None
- Odds: Joshua 16½-1 favorite (average of multiple outlets)
- Also on the card: Fabio Wardley vs. Michael Polite-Coffie, heavyweights; Matteo Signani vs. Felix Cash, middleweights; Austin Williams vs. River Wilson-Bent, middleweights
- Prediction: Joshua KO 9
- Background: Joshua returns to the ring for the first time since his back-to-back decision losses to Oleksandr Usyk, which cost him his world titles (in the first fight) and a great deal of respect. The 2012 Olympic champion from the U.K. was first revealed to be human in June 2019, when Andy Ruiz Jr. stopped him in seven rounds to take three of the four major belts. Joshua rebounded by outpointing Ruiz in the rematch the following December to regain his titles and stopped Kubrat Pulev in nine rounds in December 2020, his last victory. Then came Usyk. The gifted former undisputed cruiserweight champ defeated Joshua by a wide decision in September 2021 to become a champion in a second division and do further damage to Joshua’s reputation. The former champ performed better in the rematch last August but still lost a split decision, giving him a record of 2-3 in his last five fights. Franklin is a massive underdog but perhaps not a complete pushover. The 29-year-old from Michigan lost to longtime contender Dillian Whyte this past November but he pushed the Londoner harder than anyone had expected, coming up short by a majority decision. If Joshua wins on Saturday, he will be an attractive candidate to face any of the top heavyweights. That includes titleholder Tyson Fury now that his projected showdown with Usyk seems to be off. Deontay Wilder is another potential opponent.
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